Embodied Metaphors and Creative “Acts”

Creativity is a highly sought after skill. To inspire people’s creativity, prescriptive advice in the form of metaphors abound: We are encouraged to think outside the box, to consider the problem on one hand, then on the other hand, and to put two and two together to achieve creative breakthroughs. These metaphors suggest a connection between concrete bodily experiences and creative cognition. Inspired by recent advances on body-mind linkages under the emerging vernacular of embodied cognition, we explored for the first time whether enacting metaphors for creativity enhances creative problem-solving. In five studies, findings revealed that both physically and psychologically embodying creative metaphors promote fluency, flexibility, and/or originality in problem-solving. Going beyond prior research that focused primarily on the kind of embodiment that primes preexisting knowledge, we provide the first evidence that embodiment can also activate cognitive processes conducive for generating previously unknown ideas and connections

Multimodality in {VR}: {A} Survey

Virtual reality has the potential to change the way we create and consume content in our everyday life. Entertainment, training, design and manufacturing, communication, or advertising are all applications that already benefit from this new medium reaching consumer level. VR is inherently different from traditional media: it offers a more immersive experience, and has the ability to elicit a sense of presence through the place and plausibility illusions. It also gives the user unprecedented capabilities to explore their environment, in contrast with traditional media. In VR, like in the real world, users integrate the multimodal sensory information they receive to create a unified perception of the virtual world. Therefore, the sensory cues that are available in a virtual environment can be leveraged to enhance the final experience. This may include increasing realism, or the sense of presence; predicting or guiding the attention of the user through the experience; or increasing their performance if the experience involves the completion of certain tasks. In this state-of-the-art report, we survey the body of work addressing multimodality in virtual reality, its role and benefits in the final user experience. The works here reviewed thus encompass several fields of research, including computer graphics, human computer interaction, or psychology and perception. Additionally, we give an overview of different applications that leverage multimodal input in areas such as medicine, training and education, or entertainment; we include works in which the integration of multiple sensory information yields significant improvements, demonstrating how multimodality can play a fundamental role in the way VR systems are designed, and VR experiences created and consumed

Walking with virtual humans : understanding human response to virtual humanoids' appearance and behaviour while navigating in immersive VR

In this thesis, we present a set of studies whose results have allowed us to analyze how to improve the realism, navigation, and behaviour of the avatars in an immersive virtual reality environment. In our simulations, participants must perform a series of tasks and we have analyzed perceptual and behavioural data. The results of the studies have allowed us to deduce what improvements are needed to be incorporated to the original simulations, in order to enhance the perception of realism, the navigation technique, the rendering of the avatars, their behaviour or their animations. The most reliable technique for simulating avatars’ behaviour in a virtual reality environment should be based on the study of how humans behave within the environment. For this purpose, it is necessary to build virtual environments where participants can navigate safely and comfortably with a proper metaphor and, if the environment is populated with avatars, simulate their behaviour accurately. All these aspects together will make the participants behave in a way that is closer to how they would behave in the real world. Besides, the integration of these concepts could provide an ideal platform to develop different types of applications with and without collaborative virtual reality such as emergency simulations, teaching, architecture, or designing. In the first contribution of this thesis, we carried out an experiment to study human decision making during an evacuation. We were interested to evaluate to what extent the behaviour of a virtual crowd can affect individuals' decisions. From the second contribution, in which we studied the perception of realism with bots and humans performing just locomotion or varied animations, we can conclude that the combination of having human-like avatars with animation variety can increase the overall realism of a crowd simulation, trajectories and animation. The preliminary study presented in the third contribution of this thesis showed that realistic rendering of the environment and the avatars do not appear to increase the perception of realism in the participants, which is consistent with works presented previously. The preliminary results in our walk-in-place contribution showed a seamless and natural transition between walk-in-place and normal walk. Our system provided a velocity mapping function that closely resembles natural walk. We observed through a pilot study that the system successfully reduces motion sickness and enhances immersion. Finally, the results of the contribution related to locomotion in collaborative virtual reality showed that animation synchronism and footstep sound of the avatars representing the participants do not seem to have a strong impact in terms of presence and feeling of avatar control. However, in our experiment, incorporating natural animations and footstep sound resulted in smaller clearance values in VR than previous work in the literature. The main objective of this thesis was to improve different factors related to virtual reality experiences to make the participants feel more comfortable in the virtual environment. These factors include the behaviour and appearance of the virtual avatars and the navigation through the simulated space in the experience. By increasing the realism of the avatars and facilitating navigation, high scores in presence are achieved during the simulations. This provides an ideal framework for developing collaborative virtual reality applications or emergency simulations that require participants to feel as if they were in real life.En aquesta tesi, es presenta un conjunt d'estudis els resultats dels quals ens han permès analitzar com millorar el realisme, la navegació i el comportament dels avatars en un entorn de realitat virtual immersiu. En les nostres simulacions, els participants han de realitzar una sèrie de tasques i hem analitzat dades perceptives i de comportament mentre les feien. Els resultats dels estudis ens han permès deduir quines millores són necessàries per a ser incorporades a les simulacions originals, amb la finalitat de millorar la percepció del realisme, la tècnica de navegació, la representació dels avatars, el seu comportament o les seves animacions. La tècnica més fiable per simular el comportament dels avatars en un entorn de realitat virtual hauria de basar-se en l'estudi de com es comporten els humans dins de l¿entorn virtual. Per a aquest propòsit, és necessari construir entorns virtuals on els participants poden navegar amb seguretat i comoditat amb una metàfora adequada i, si l¿entorn està poblat amb avatars, simular el seu comportament amb precisió. Tots aquests aspectes junts fan que els participants es comportin d'una manera més pròxima a com es comportarien en el món real. A més, la integració d'aquests conceptes podria proporcionar una plataforma ideal per desenvolupar diferents tipus d'aplicacions amb i sense realitat virtual col·laborativa com simulacions d'emergència, ensenyament, arquitectura o disseny. En la primera contribució d'aquesta tesi, vam realitzar un experiment per estudiar la presa de decisions durant una evacuació. Estàvem interessats a avaluar en quina mesura el comportament d'una multitud virtual pot afectar les decisions dels participants. A partir de la segona contribució, en la qual estudiem la percepció del realisme amb robots i humans que realitzen només una animació de caminar o bé realitzen diverses animacions, vam arribar a la conclusió que la combinació de tenir avatars semblants als humans amb animacions variades pot augmentar la percepció del realisme general de la simulació de la multitud, les seves trajectòries i animacions. L'estudi preliminar presentat en la tercera contribució d'aquesta tesi va demostrar que la representació realista de l¿entorn i dels avatars no semblen augmentar la percepció del realisme en els participants, que és coherent amb treballs presentats anteriorment. Els resultats preliminars de la nostra contribució de walk-in-place van mostrar una transició suau i natural entre les metàfores de walk-in-place i caminar normal. El nostre sistema va proporcionar una funció de mapatge de velocitat que s'assembla molt al caminar natural. Hem observat a través d'un estudi pilot que el sistema redueix amb èxit el motion sickness i millora la immersió. Finalment, els resultats de la contribució relacionada amb locomoció en realitat virtual col·laborativa van mostrar que el sincronisme de l'animació i el so dels avatars que representen els participants no semblen tenir un fort impacte en termes de presència i sensació de control de l'avatar. No obstant això, en el nostre experiment, la incorporació d'animacions naturals i el so de passos va donar lloc a valors de clearance més petits en RV que treballs anteriors ja publicats. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi ha estat millorar els diferents factors relacionats amb experiències de realitat virtual immersiva per fer que els participants se sentin més còmodes en l'entorn virtual. Aquests factors inclouen el comportament i l'aparença dels avatars i la navegació a través de l'entorn virtual. En augmentar el realisme dels avatars i facilitar la navegació, s'aconsegueixen altes puntuacions en presència durant les simulacions. Això proporciona un marc ideal per desenvolupar aplicacions col·laboratives de realitat virtual o simulacions d'emergència que requereixen que els participants se sentin com si estiguessin en la vida realPostprint (published version

Multimodality in VR: A survey

Virtual reality (VR) is rapidly growing, with the potential to change the way we create and consume content. In VR, users integrate multimodal sensory information they receive, to create a unified perception of the virtual world. In this survey, we review the body of work addressing multimodality in VR, and its role and benefits in user experience, together with different applications that leverage multimodality in many disciplines. These works thus encompass several fields of research, and demonstrate that multimodality plays a fundamental role in VR; enhancing the experience, improving overall performance, and yielding unprecedented abilities in skill and knowledge transfer

A Multi-Modal, Modified-Feedback and Self-Paced Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to Control an Embodied Avatar's Gait

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have been used to control the gait of a virtual self-avatar with the aim of being used in gait rehabilitation. A BCI decodes the brain signals representing a desire to do something and transforms them into a control command for controlling external devices. The feelings described by the participants when they control a self-avatar in an immersive virtual environment (VE) demonstrate that humans can be embodied in the surrogate body of an avatar (ownership illusion). It has recently been shown that inducing the ownership illusion and then manipulating the movements of one’s self-avatar can lead to compensatory motor control strategies. In order to maximize this effect, there is a need for a method that measures and monitors embodiment levels of participants immersed in virtual reality (VR) to induce and maintain a strong ownership illusion. This is particularly true given that reaching a high level of both BCI performance and embodiment are inter-connected. To reach one of them, the second must be reached as well. Some limitations of many existing systems hinder their adoption for neurorehabilitation: 1- some use motor imagery (MI) of movements other than gait; 2- most systems allow the user to take single steps or to walk but do not allow both, which prevents users from progressing from steps to gait; 3- most of them function in a single BCI mode (cue-paced or self-paced), which prevents users from progressing from machine-dependent to machine-independent walking. Overcoming the aforementioned limitations can be done by combining different control modes and options in one single system. However, this would have a negative impact on BCI performance, therefore diminishing its usefulness as a potential rehabilitation tool. In this case, there will be a need to enhance BCI performance. For such purpose, many techniques have been used in the literature, such as providing modified feedback (whereby the presented feedback is not consistent with the user’s MI), sequential training (recalibrating the classifier as more data becomes available). This thesis was developed over 3 studies. The objective in study 1 was to investigate the possibility of measuring the level of embodiment of an immersive self-avatar, during the performing, observing and imagining of gait, using electroencephalogram (EEG) techniques, by presenting visual feedback that conflicts with the desired movement of embodied participants. The objective of study 2 was to develop and validate a BCI to control single steps and forward walking of an immersive virtual reality (VR) self-avatar, using mental imagery of these actions, in cue-paced and self-paced modes. Different performance enhancement strategies were implemented to increase BCI performance. The data of these two studies were then used in study 3 to construct a generic classifier that could eliminate offline calibration for future users and shorten training time. Twenty different healthy participants took part in studies 1 and 2. In study 1, participants wore an EEG cap and motion capture markers, with an avatar displayed in a head-mounted display (HMD) from a first-person perspective (1PP). They were cued to either perform, watch or imagine a single step forward or to initiate walking on a treadmill. For some of the trials, the avatar took a step with the contralateral limb or stopped walking before the participant stopped (modified feedback). In study 2, participants completed a 4-day sequential training to control the gait of an avatar in both BCI modes. In cue-paced mode, they were cued to imagine a single step forward, using their right or left foot, or to walk forward. In the self-paced mode, they were instructed to reach a target using the MI of multiple steps (switch control mode) or maintaining the MI of forward walking (continuous control mode). The avatar moved as a response to two calibrated regularized linear discriminant analysis (RLDA) classifiers that used the μ power spectral density (PSD) over the foot area of the motor cortex as features. The classifiers were retrained after every session. During the training, and for some of the trials, positive modified feedback was presented to half of the participants, where the avatar moved correctly regardless of the participant’s real performance. In both studies, the participants’ subjective experience was analyzed using a questionnaire. Results of study 1 show that subjective levels of embodiment correlate strongly with the power differences of the event-related synchronization (ERS) within the μ frequency band, and over the motor and pre-motor cortices between the modified and regular feedback trials. Results of study 2 show that all participants were able to operate the cued-paced BCI and the selfpaced BCI in both modes. For the cue-paced BCI, the average offline performance (classification rate) on day 1 was 67±6.1% and 86±6.1% on day 3, showing that the recalibration of the classifiers enhanced the offline performance of the BCI (p < 0.01). The average online performance was 85.9±8.4% for the modified feedback group (77-97%) versus 75% for the non-modified feedback group. For self-paced BCI, the average performance was 83% at switch control and 92% at continuous control mode, with a maximum of 12 seconds of control. Modified feedback enhanced BCI performances (p =0.001). Finally, results of study 3 show that the constructed generic models performed as well as models obtained from participant-specific offline data. The results show that there it is possible to design a participant-independent zero-training BCI.Les interfaces cerveau-ordinateur (ICO) ont été utilisées pour contrôler la marche d'un égo-avatar virtuel dans le but d'être utilisées dans la réadaptation de la marche. Une ICO décode les signaux du cerveau représentant un désir de faire produire un mouvement et les transforme en une commande de contrôle pour contrôler des appareils externes. Les sentiments décrits par les participants lorsqu'ils contrôlent un égo-avatar dans un environnement virtuel immersif démontrent que les humains peuvent être incarnés dans un corps d'un avatar (illusion de propriété). Il a été récemment démontré que provoquer l’illusion de propriété puis manipuler les mouvements de l’égo-avatar peut conduire à des stratégies de contrôle moteur compensatoire. Afin de maximiser cet effet, il existe un besoin d'une méthode qui mesure et surveille les niveaux d’incarnation des participants immergés dans la réalité virtuelle (RV) pour induire et maintenir une forte illusion de propriété. D'autre part, atteindre un niveau élevé de performances (taux de classification) ICO et d’incarnation est interconnecté. Pour atteindre l'un d'eux, le second doit également être atteint. Certaines limitations de plusieurs de ces systèmes entravent leur adoption pour la neuroréhabilitation: 1- certains utilisent l'imagerie motrice (IM) des mouvements autres que la marche; 2- la plupart des systèmes permettent à l'utilisateur de faire des pas simples ou de marcher mais pas les deux, ce qui ne permet pas à un utilisateur de passer des pas à la marche; 3- la plupart fonctionnent en un seul mode d’ICO, rythmé (cue-paced) ou auto-rythmé (self-paced). Surmonter les limitations susmentionnées peut être fait en combinant différents modes et options de commande dans un seul système. Cependant, cela aurait un impact négatif sur les performances de l’ICO, diminuant ainsi son utilité en tant qu'outil potentiel de réhabilitation. Dans ce cas, il sera nécessaire d'améliorer les performances des ICO. À cette fin, de nombreuses techniques ont été utilisées dans la littérature, telles que la rétroaction modifiée, le recalibrage du classificateur et l'utilisation d'un classificateur générique. Le projet de cette thèse a été réalisé en 3 études, avec objectif d'étudier dans l'étude 1, la possibilité de mesurer le niveau d'incarnation d'un égo-avatar immersif, lors de l'exécution, de l'observation et de l'imagination de la marche, à l'aide des techniques encéphalogramme (EEG), en présentant une rétroaction visuelle qui entre en conflit avec la commande du contrôle moteur des sujets incarnés. L'objectif de l'étude 2 était de développer un BCI pour contrôler les pas et la marche vers l’avant d'un égo-avatar dans la réalité virtuelle immersive, en utilisant l'imagerie motrice de ces actions, dans des modes rythmés et auto-rythmés. Différentes stratégies d'amélioration des performances ont été mises en œuvre pour augmenter la performance (taux de classification) de l’ICO. Les données de ces deux études ont ensuite été utilisées dans l'étude 3 pour construire des classificateurs génériques qui pourraient éliminer la calibration hors ligne pour les futurs utilisateurs et raccourcir le temps de formation. Vingt participants sains différents ont participé aux études 1 et 2. Dans l'étude 1, les participants portaient un casque EEG et des marqueurs de capture de mouvement, avec un avatar affiché dans un casque de RV du point de vue de la première personne (1PP). Ils ont été invités à performer, à regarder ou à imaginer un seul pas en avant ou la marche vers l’avant (pour quelques secondes) sur le tapis roulant. Pour certains essais, l'avatar a fait un pas avec le membre controlatéral ou a arrêté de marcher avant que le participant ne s'arrête (rétroaction modifiée). Dans l'étude 2, les participants ont participé à un entrainement séquentiel de 4 jours pour contrôler la marche d'un avatar dans les deux modes de l’ICO. En mode rythmé, ils ont imaginé un seul pas en avant, en utilisant leur pied droit ou gauche, ou la marche vers l’avant . En mode auto-rythmé, il leur a été demandé d'atteindre une cible en utilisant l'imagerie motrice (IM) de plusieurs pas (mode de contrôle intermittent) ou en maintenir l'IM de marche vers l’avant (mode de contrôle continu). L'avatar s'est déplacé en réponse à deux classificateurs ‘Regularized Linear Discriminant Analysis’ (RLDA) calibrés qui utilisaient comme caractéristiques la densité spectrale de puissance (Power Spectral Density; PSD) des bandes de fréquences µ (8-12 Hz) sur la zone du pied du cortex moteur. Les classificateurs ont été recalibrés après chaque session. Au cours de l’entrainement et pour certains des essais, une rétroaction modifiée positive a été présentée à la moitié des participants, où l'avatar s'est déplacé correctement quelle que soit la performance réelle du participant. Dans les deux études, l'expérience subjective des participants a été analysée à l'aide d'un questionnaire. Les résultats de l'étude 1 montrent que les niveaux subjectifs d’incarnation sont fortement corrélés à la différence de la puissance de la synchronisation liée à l’événement (Event-Related Synchronization; ERS) sur la bande de fréquence μ et sur le cortex moteur et prémoteur entre les essais de rétroaction modifiés et réguliers. L'étude 2 a montré que tous les participants étaient capables d’utiliser le BCI rythmé et auto-rythmé dans les deux modes. Pour le BCI rythmé, la performance hors ligne moyenne au jour 1 était de 67±6,1% et 86±6,1% au jour 3, ce qui montre que le recalibrage des classificateurs a amélioré la performance hors ligne du BCI (p <0,01). La performance en ligne moyenne était de 85,9±8,4% pour le groupe de rétroaction modifié (77-97%) contre 75% pour le groupe de rétroaction non modifié. Pour le BCI auto-rythmé, la performance moyenne était de 83% en commande de commutateur et de 92% en mode de commande continue, avec un maximum de 12 secondes de commande. Les performances de l’ICO ont été améliorées par la rétroaction modifiée (p = 0,001). Enfin, les résultats de l'étude 3 montrent que pour la classification des initialisations des pas et de la marche, il a été possible de construire des modèles génériques à partir de données hors ligne spécifiques aux participants. Les résultats montrent la possibilité de concevoir une ICO ne nécessitant aucun entraînement spécifique au participant

ReLiPh: rehabilitation for lower limb with phantom pain

O membro fantasma ou sensação fantasma, ao longo dos anos, têm se destacado por ser originada de diferentes causas. Pesquisas e estudos mostram que, após uma amputação, na maioria dos casos, experienciam a sensação de membro fantasma e em muitos desses casos dolorosos. A presente tese baseia-se em uma pequena parte deste amplo tópico. Baseada na terapia de espelho usada na reabilitação e tratamento da dor fantasma. Ao longo do projeto, nós estudamos quais são os componentes mais relevantes para a reorganização/reestruturação, a fim de eliminar os sintomas negativos e futuros distúrbios/perturbações. Associada na relação do cérebro com o corpo, ou seja, as imagens formadas pelo cérebro em relação ao corpo físico desempenhando um papel crucial na relação do membro fantasma e da dor no membro fantasma, bem como no processo de cura e tratamento através de exercícios e no relacionamento da imagem que o cérebro tem do corpo físico. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo na construção de uma nova abordagem tecnológica, baseando-se nos princípios e critérios utilizados na terapia de espelho. A metodologia assenta na criação de um ambiente de realidade virtual controlado por um dispositivo que captura a atividade muscular em tempo real. Implementado num jogo baseado em movimentos/exercícios simples e naturais, sem uso de força ou esforço. Os elevados resultados verificados e testados, em indivíduos saudáveis e em um estudo de caso, na redução da dor fantasma, gerando um interesse e motivação, além de um melhor senso de presença e foco durante o seu uso. Concluindo, o projeto abre novas direções futuras de como novas abordagens tecnológicas podem ser usados nas pesquisas médicas na área do membro e na dor fantasma, em ambientes controlados e contextualizados. Melhorando a eficácia e eficiência, garantindo uma maior flexibilidade nos diferentes casos de amputação.The phantom limb or phantom sensation, over the years, has stood out being originated from different causes. Research and studies show that after an amputation, in most cases, they experience the sensation of a phantom limb and in many of those painful feelings. This thesis is based on a small part of this wide topic. Based on the mirror therapy used in rehabilitation and treatment for phantom pain. Throughout the project, we study what are the most relevant components to reorganization/restructuring in order to eliminate negative symptoms and future disturbances. Moreover it is established in the relationship of the brain with the body, that the images formed by the brain in relation to the physical body play a crucial role in the relationship with the phantom limb and phantom limb pain, as well as in the process of healing and treatment throughout exercises and the relationship of the image that the brain has to the physical body. This dissertation aims to build a new technological approach, based on the principles and criteria used in mirror therapy. The methodology is based on the creation of a virtual reality environment controlled by a device which captures the muscle activity in real time. Implemented in a game based on natural and simple effortless exercises without the use of strength. The high results verified and tested, in healthy subjects and in a case study, to reduce phantom pain, generating an interest and motivation, as well as a better sense of presence and focus during its use. In conclusion, the project opens up new future directions of how new technological approaches can be used in medical research in the field of phantom limbs and in phantom pain, in a controlled and contextualized environments and/or movements. Improving effectiveness and efficiency ensuring greater flexibility in different cases of amputation

Full Body Acting Rehearsal in a Networked Virtual Environment-A Case Study

In order to rehearse for a play or a scene from a movie, it is generally required that the actors are physically present at the same time in the same place. In this paper we present an example and experience of a full body motion shared virtual environment (SVE) for rehearsal. The system allows actors and directors to meet in an SVE in order to rehearse scenes for a play or a movie, that is, to perform some dialogue and blocking (positions, movements, and displacements of actors in the scene) rehearsal through a full body interactive virtual reality (VR) system. The system combines immersive VR rendering techniques as well as network capabilities together with full body tracking. Two actors and a director rehearsed from separate locations. One actor and the director were in London (located in separate rooms) while the second actor was in Barcelona. The Barcelona actor used a wide field-of-view head-tracked head-mounted display, and wore a body suit for real-time motion capture and display. The London actor was in a Cave system, with head and partial body tracking. Each actor was presented to the other as an avatar in the shared virtual environment, and the director could see the whole scenario on a desktop display, and intervene by voice commands. A video stream in a window displayed in the virtual environment also represented the director. The London participant was a professional actor, who afterward commented on the utility of the system for acting rehearsal. It was concluded that full body tracking and corresponding real-time display of all the actors' movements would be a critical requirement, and that blocking was possible down to the level of detail of gestures. Details of the implementation, actors, and director experiences are provided

Sensorial feedback contribution to the sense of embodiment in brain-machine interfaces: a systematic review

The sense of embodiment (SoE) is an essential element of human perception that allows individuals to control and perceive the movements of their body parts. Brain–machine interface (BMI) technology can induce SoE in real time, and adding sensory feedback through various modalities has been shown to improve BMI control and elicit SoEe. In this study, we conducted a systematic review to study BMI performance in studies that integrated SoE variables and analyzed the contribution of single or multimodal sensory stimulation. Out of 493 results, only 20 studies analyzed the SoE of humans using BMIs. Analysis of these articles revealed that 40% of the studies relating BMIs with sensory stimulation and SoE primarily focused on manipulating visual stimuli, particularly in terms of coherence (i.e., synchronous vs. asynchronous stimuli) and realism (i.e., humanoid or robotic appearance). However, no study has analyzed the independent contributions of different sensory modalities to SoE and BMI performance. These results suggest that providing a detailed description of the outcomes resulting from independent and combined effects of different sensory modalities on the experience of SoE during BMI control may be relevant for the design of neurorehabilitation programs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Embodiment in a virtual body that speaks produces agency over the speaking but does not necessarily influence subsequent real speaking

Previous results have shown that body ownership, induced through first-person perspective (1PP) over a virtual body (VB) that moves synchronously with real body movements, can lead to illusory agency over VB utterances even though the participant does not speak. It was also found that when participants later speak they follow the fundamental frequency (FF) of the voice of their VB, indicating a new motor plan for speaking. To eliminate the contribution of veridical agency over the VB movements, we conducted a study where we induced body ownership using visuotactile (VT) synchrony rather than visuomotor. Participants saw a life-sized VB from 1PP and reflected in a virtual mirror, that spoke with corresponding lip movements. Half of the 36 experimental participants experienced synchronous (Sync) passive VT on their hands and abdomen, and the other half asynchronous (Async). We found that both VT Sync and Async conditions resulted in a strong subjective illusion of body ownership and agency over the VB, but not, however, changes in voice FF in subsequent speaking. This shows that although illusory agency may be associated with body ownership, a change in motor plan is likely to be a generalisation from veridical agency over whole body movements